Athene Aitane
Athene Aitane, age 16 (Born in 5020), formerly a Squire for Zarah Nieve, is a Meridian Knight of House Silverlight. Description Athene stands 5'3 having a small but well toned frame. She has blue eyes and also has blonde hair that goes down to her waist. Athene wears a custom made suit of Form-fitting Mithral full plate colored blue with silver emblems engravings and highlights with her long blue with silver trim cloak. All of her armor bears her own personal wing symbol, a pair of wings that look like they could double as bladed weapons. Athene carries with her a bow and a pair of bastard swords crossed on her back under her cloak. Just about all of her other posessions are found on her belt, including her folded up portable hole which allows her to carry much more than most people could even begin to think she has. Unlike many other people in and out of the order, Athene is completely ambidextrous, which hand she weilds a sword with does not lower her effeciency compared to the other. Early Life Athene never quite found herself happy with the things that other girls her age were doing and eventually ended up admiring (the very few) female knights within competitions. Being the daughter of nobility but not the first heir, her fate within the family was pretty dismal and convinced her parents to let her do something else with it other than be a bride for some other noble, ironically now the nobles hire her as an escort and wish they could keep her. Early on showing a knack for archery she entered a few competitions for younger people and won them however even that began to bore her as time went on. Eventually the one service of knights that did accept her was House Silverlight whom after completing the basic training for a squire was paired up with Zarah Nieve. Path to Knighthood Basic training was just that, Basic. First was the code which was quite easy in her mind, then the basic training with weapons which she excelled at and put many of the males to shame, especially in grappling when many of the men thought they'd have some "fun" with her and ended up face down on the ground tapping out. Arrogance turned to Humility when the 6'0 and taller men lost to a girl who was 5'1 and less than half their weight. Zarah Nieve's training regiment was hard and rough as training with one of the best people in the organization when it came to shield mastery was not a forgiving task. Failure to gain the concepts being taught resulted in many bruises and the discovery that a shield is just as dangerous of a weapon as a sword. Continued training proved to serve well as eventually Athene managed to break through Zarah's defenses as a trainee, at that point Zarah determined that her part of her instruction was over and sent her on to her next master. In total her training as a knight encompassed Swordplay, Knightly Conduct, shieldwork (though she rarely uses it due to her natural agility and ambidexterity), hand to hand combat and grappling which she initially learned while young as self defense but later became an expert at it during her squire training supassing her trainer in the art. Lady Aitane, The Swift Knight Her first few assignements as a knight were mostly escort details, but many of them ended forcing her to use her weapons to fend off attackers earning her a quick reputation as being dependable in a fight as well as quick and responsive to action when needed. This reputation earned her many points within the organization and also many favors with the nobles she was dispatched to guard, some of them even gifting her with new equipment hoping to have her along the next time they needed an escort. Though Athene did not pay much attention to it, many of the nobles specifically picked her to escort them because of her looks in addition to her skill. The fact that she did not need a weapon to neutralize her opponents added to it all and she ended up on some escorts wearing an evening dress and practically went on dates with some nobles. When the nobles who took a liking to her also found out she was a skilled formal dancer as well made her quite popular in events. She got to go out to many of the events people only wish they could go to in their dreams. All these skills and features made her one of the most expensive escorts in the cities of Meridia and Asyria as the nobles would almost have bidding wars to see who would secure her as an escort. Before Athene knew it, she had practically traded her armor in for tailored dresses within Meridia. She earned the title "The Swift" from her peers as she became the fastest knight in the order still alive, beating out the previous fastest knight, Zarah, by a large margin whom had a title related to her impenetrable defense instead as that stuck out more so as her best atribute. The title is mostly atributed to her reaction speed as well as her physical agility. While Athene is actually quite strong for her body size, she tries not to show it in most situations still believing that most men should show their strength before her even if it isn't superior to her own. While officially a Knight, men should still be proud and polite around her just like any other girl in her mind. Athene's not so official title among the men in the organization and to some extent, the nobles, is "Princess" and it's mostly a well kept secret from Athene. Returning to traveling Soon enough her time to take up a job outside of the city had come and Athene's first job outside of a city invovled her being part of a small squad of knights tasked with clearing the roads between Meridia and Gorgon Bay of bandits where Athene was made to be the sweeper of the group taking out groups of bandits whom had fled into the forest where they were too dense to be chased by horseback. Holding true to her title of "Athene the Swift," she chased down more bandits than any other member of the group. Her second assignment outside of the local area of Asyria, Meridia, and Aadri found her going back south again to Jarath Bay to investigate the activities of the ogres. She was mostly chosen for the job because her training with Zarah Nieve had brought her down there recently compared to any other knight so she knew the terrain more than the rest. Soon after sending in her report to the order after completing her task, Bowen Mordinth summoned her to his tower telling her that her talents would be better spent elsewhere for the time being at which point she became a traveling knight now trying to finish the task that Zarah Nieve previously started.